Principles of Public Administration for EU Enlargement countries

SIGMA developed the Principles of Public Administration in 2014 to support the European Commission’s reinforced approach to public administration reform in the EU Enlargement process. The Principles define what good public governance entails in practice and outline the main requirements to be followed by countries during the EU integration process. The Principles also feature a monitoring framework to enable regular analysis of progress made in applying the Principles and in setting country benchmarks.

The EU acquis requirements and guidelines are the core of the Principles, where relevant. In other areas, the Principles are derived from international standards and requirements, as well as good practices in EU and OECD member countries. As a minimum benchmark of good administration, countries should ensure compliance with these fundamental Principles.

2017 Principles

Based on SIGMA’s experience of using the Principles in our work with countries, both for assessment of progress and in technical assistance projects, the original monitoring framework has been updated. To reflect this, the Principles for EU Enlargement countries have been updated to improve clarity, without changing the substance of the conceptual framework.